Anyone have or ever have a motor newspaper route?

DH and I are discussing ways to supplement our income. I thought of a paper route. Our local paper advertises income of $550 to $700 per month for delivering newspapers. You deliver from 4 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.

Right now I have 96 daily, 97 Sat and 136 Sunday papers to deliver (plus the rack and Caseys) 30/40 of my deliveries are in town, the rest in the country. I cover 1/4 of the county I live in. I can fold and bag or band the papers while I drive, so it takes me about 2 - 2 1/2 hours for the whole route. I start at 1:00-1:30 and get home by 3:30-4:00. (There's a lot less traffic then. Traffic starts picking up around 3am)

You want a route close to home. (You're getting paid by the paper, not the mile) You want to print out a map so you can visualize the best way to route it for you. It really matters which side of the road the tubes or driveways are on. You can drive on the wrong side of the road at 1 or 3 am, but probably not at 4 or 5. You want a car with eletric windows, think about all that rolling up and down. You want extra insurance on your car in case a deer hits you. You want someone to call if you have car trouble out in BFE.

I'm an independent contractor, which means no tax is taken out of my check. I have to keep track of how many papers go to Caseys and how many go in the rack. I get billed separately for these "draw" papers and get credit for the "returns". Some night I have to stuff inserts before I leave. I only stuff the home delivered. It takes 10 or 15 minutes, but sometimes the papers are hard to fold afterward. You'll be in BIG trouble if an advertiser finds out you didn't deliver the ad he paid for.

Keep a milage log and ALL of your fuel receipts for taxes. Keep all your bills for papers, bags, rubber bands, pens, envelpopes....

I get all the coupons out of my returns!!!!!!!

Lmk if you have any more questions. I really enjoy the quiet time, even though I don't get enough sleep.

Originally posted by dz_blonde_girl I I really enjoy the quiet time, even though I don't get enough sleep.

That's what I love best...

I have a motorized paper route, also. I deliver 96 papers everyday and 125 on saterday and 112 on sunday. I used to have more, but with the summer, a few costumers have cancelled for a few weeks....

I make about $150 a week, tip included. Of coarse, my gaz is not calculated, but I think it must cost 25$...it's real close to home.

I leave at 4h30 am and I'm back about around 6h00 am---depends how tired I get in the end.

I also noticed that I am getting more tired since two months....getting up that early everyday and rarely napping in the day and still going to bed at 9 or 10 pm....I'm trying to go back to bed when I get back, since school is off and everyone is sleeping anyways until 8 or 9 am...

I'm happy to do this. It is helping us pay our home faster and it encourages Pierre, too.

I think you'll like it, Amanda. It's not many hours everyday and you still have your day. Goodluck!